A pillar for theresearch in Africa

Located on the Tygerberg campus in Cape Town, the BMRI was designed to address the major health challenges affecting African populations: tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cardiometabolic diseases, genetic and neurological disorders, fertility problems, and emerging diseases linked to epidemics. “The BMRI is dedicated to understanding the genetic and biomolecular bases of diseases, with a particular focus on Africa,” explains Professor Nico Gey van Pittius, Vice-Dean for Research and Internationalization at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). The project represents a colossal investment: 1.2 billion rand, or nearly 66 million US dollars. This was a deliberate choice by the university and the South African government, who hope to make the center a continental driver of biomedical innovation.

Scientific equipment without equivalent in Africa

The BMRI is not a laboratory like any other. It houses some of the most advanced equipment on the continent:

infrastructureunique:

• Africa’s largest biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory (600 m²);

• A robotic bio-reserve capable of storing up to 3.5 million samples at -190 °C;

• Platforms for electron microscopy, proteomics, bioinformatics, flow cytometry;

• A virtual reality laboratory applied to experimental psychiatry.

Professor Novel Chegou, a world-renowned specialist in tuberculosis immunology, testifies to this spectacular transformation: “Eighteen years ago, we worked in narrow corridors, surrounded by refrigerators.

Today, we have state-of-the-art laboratories and an environment conducive to collaborative research.

An academic centerlooking towards the future

The BMRI also includes spaces dedicated to training and education:

• The Medical Morphology Centre, where students practice dissection and anatomical study;

• The Sunskill laboratory, a surgical simulation platform for interns.

“We designed the BMRI with the technologies of the coming decades in mind,” emphasizes Professor Gey van Pittius, one of the architects of the project along with Eben Mouton, director of business management at the FMHS.

Pan-African leadershipfor a continental project

The appointment of Professor Jean B. Nachega to head the BMRI marks a major strategic turning point. He is a Congolese researcher of international renown for his work on HIV and tuberculosis.

and emerging diseases, Professor Nachega brings a profoundly African vision to biomedical research. The Executive Committee of the Faculty of Medicine emphasizes: “Under Professor Nachega’s leadership, the BMRI is consolidating its role as a continental center of excellence, focused on innovation, training, and translational research.”

A project at the heart of the issuesglobal health

The BMRI tackles major scientific questions. Among its priority areas are: human and animal tuberculosis, neuroscience, cardiometabolic diseases, genomics of rare diseases, reproductive health and innovative responses to epidemics.

It was in Stellenbosch, in this same scientific ecosystem, that the world-renowned researcher Tulio de Oliveira first identified the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. "The plans of the BMRI inspired the creation of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI)," he says.

A symbol of renewalAfrican scientist

Ambitious, technologically advanced and resolutely pan-African, the BMRI goes beyond the simple dimension of an infrastructure: it embodies the continent's will to produce its own science, its own innovations and its own responses to health crises.

For Professor Nachega, the mission is clear: “Africa must produce its own science to meet its own needs. The BMRI is a decisive step in this direction.”